Hidden Truth
by take the mic. sing to me
Summary: New perfect girl. Perfect guy. Secrets, friendships, crushes, and true love. Is it possible to have everything you want? Rated T just to be safe... many twists. Chp. 6 up. ON HIATUS.
1. The New Girl

**A/N:** This is one of my first fanfics, and this idea is entirely original…This story might actually get somewhere, since I've planned it out some. (: (Revised/edited—spell check, etc.--on Aug. 22, 2007.)

* * *

Gabriella Montez worked at her locker combination. _You'd think that after going to school here for a almost a year that I'd know how to do a combination. What is it now... March? _She smiled and finally got it open, getting her textbooks, notebooks, and binder from it. She almost jumped when she felt someone tap her lightly on her shoulder. She whirled around to face Principal Matsui and a girl she never recalled seeing before. She smiled uneasily.

"Miss Montez," Principal Matsui nodded politely. "We have another new student here at East High. Meet Cara Vergara." He gestured to the girl, who smiled shyly. "I was wondering if you'd mind showing her around? You have the same classes, ironically, and, well, I'm sure both of you will get along just fine. Her locker is only five away from here… #209." With that, Principal Matsui walked away.

"Hi," Cara broke the silence. Gabriella examined her knew "assigned friend." She had pretty, black, wavy tresses that fell just above her elbow, chinky, Oriental eyes that twinkled whenever she smiled, and a pretty, little-girl smile. Cara wore all white—a white, lace, ruffled vintage top, low-rise pants, and a blazer that accentuated her large gold medallion earrings.

"Hey," Gabriella returned politely, balancing her books in the crook of her arm against her hip. "I'm Gabriella Montez."

"Nice to meet you, Gabriella," Cara began, when Sharpay blew in. Cara seemed to shrink back instinctively, somewhat cowering behind Gabriella.

"Well, well, well." Sharpay said, wearing the same pink tweed ensemble she had worn last year, the day after winter break. Her golden-blonde hair, however, was teased into two low pigtails. Gabriella found it funny how Sharpay was the only girl she knew of that could wear her hair like that without looking like a wanna-be middle-schooler. "Look what we have here. You taking Troy's lead and showing around…" she sniffed, "new students?"

"Principal Matsui said that Cara and I have the same classes." Gabriella never knew her voice could come out so boldly. She surprised herself again by stepping forward, countering the drama queen. "Come on, Cara. Let's get to class."

"You know her?" Cara whispered, once they were out of earshot.

"It's just Sharpay," Gabriella laughed. "She might be a little rough around the edges, but she's okay once you get to know her—I've heard that sometimes she can even be nice."

Troy sneaked up behind Gabriella and quickly put his hands around her shoulders, some of his fingers on her neck. Gabriella screamed and whipped around, slapping Troy on the cheek. Seeing who it was, she gasped. "Oh my word, Troy! I'm so sorry!" Her face looked the way it had after she had slipped and landed her cheese fries on Sharpay's chest.

Troy looked back at her, grinning, but rubbing his cheek, which had turned red. "Ow," he laughed, but it was obvious it had hurt. " 'Word'?"

"Yes…_word_." Gabriella giggled, then remembered Cara, who had stepped back during this time. "Oh, and this is Cara Vergara? New student." Cara nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Cara," Troy held out his hand politely, and Cara shook it. Winking at Gabriella, he said, "See you during free period, Gabi." He clutched his heart dramatically, and ran to his own class.

Cara looked at Gabriella and smirked. "Cute boyfriend…Gabi." She tried out the nickname, and by her face Gabriella could tell that she liked it.

Gabriella looked at Cara incredulously, but she inwardly blushed and wished that it was true. "Oh…Troy? He's just a friend." _Unfortunately…_

"So then… you don't mind?"

Gabriella didn't like where this conversation was going. "Mind…what?" She wouldn't meet Cara's eyes.

"If I like him?"

Gabriella tried to fake a laugh. "I don't own you, Cara… sure you can. But if he asks me, I can't lie for you. Troy and I are like _this_." She wrapped her index finger around her middle finger and held up her entire hand.

Cara opened her mouth to say something, but the bell rang. Gabriella sighed with relief as she and Cara slipped into seats next to each other. She really, really wanted to drop the subject.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cara obviously didn't want to change the subject. All she could talk about was Troy-this and Troy-that. Gabriella knew it was just seconds before she went insane. "Cara!" Gabriella took her friend by the shoulders and shook her. "Take this from someone who cares about you… get some help!" She let go and continued walking.

"But, Gabi! Don't tell me you don't think he's cute," Cara smirked.

"Friends don't see each other that way…and you don't even know his last name, interests, hopes…dreams!"

Cara sighed dreamily. "It doesn't really matter," she giggled, and at that moment Gabriella envied her—being able to proclaim her feelings, not caring what other people did or said. She sighed. But that just wasn't her.

Taylor had often teased her about being "psychoanalytic," and Gabriella took it good-naturedly, knowing that it was probably true. Especially with her feelings. She was always so "slow" with these things, always having to ask her self over and over whether what she felt really was true. She was snapped back to the present when she saw Cara walking into the theatre, right after Ryan and Sharpay. Ryan courteously held the door open for Cara, and she thanked him graciously, almost as if the ordeal with his twin sister had never happened earlier that morning.

Gabriella grabbed Cara's arm. "What do you think you're doing?" she hissed in a low tone. "Sharpay'll _eat _you."

"Won't she get suspended for that?" Cara laughed a little. "And, it's okay. Like you said, maybe she's just a little rough around the edges--hey, who knows?--maybe one day she'll even learn to _tolerate _me." She gasped dramatically, as though this was a big deal, and giggled.

Gabriella was taken a bit aback, and she was sure that it showed on her face. _Oh, no..._ "You're a drama queen?" she asked incredulously.

"Maybe... but let's just say that my family as a bit of acting history." Cara grinned mysteriously and held the door open for Gabriella with one hand. "Coming? I want to join the drama club...the drama team..." she inhaled excitedly. "Showbusiness is kind of 'my thing,' I guess. It always has been. Acting, dancing, singing..."

"...singing?" Gabriella tried not to sound nervous, but she and Troy were already planning on auditioning for the spring "musicale."

"Mmhmm."

"Oh... wonderful."


	2. Jealous, Pretty Horses?

**A/N: **Hm. Enjoying this fanfic. A lot. xD I hope you guys are, too… that is, if you're reading it. Don't decide to hate Cara yet, though. Cara's not _meant_ to be bad. (Revised 8.22.2007.)

* * *

"Isn't it?" Cara beamed. She leaned closer to Gabriella and spoke in a low tone. "Some of my other friends thought I was stuck-up." She leaned back again, grinning innocently. "I'm so glad I have a friend like you, Gabriella…who's not like that. Not hiding stuff from me."

_Heh… how lucky. _"S-same here." Gabriella faked a smile. Cara didn't notice her friend's lack of enthusiasm as she skipped down the aisle and wove her way through the seats.

"I'd like to audition, Mrs. Darbus!"

It was all Gabriella could do to keep from screaming. She had grown to like Cara, but it was just too much, seeing Cara act _just like her_. She knew it wasn't on purpose, since they'd only spent less than one day together. She shook her head and sat down in one of the back rows, and almost jumped when she found Troy sitting right next to her. "Should've known you'd be here."

"Surprised you're not signing up last-minute again," Troy teased, his blue eyes dancing mischievously.

"But look who is," she muttered, trying to lessen the bitterness she knew her voice held.

Troy followed Gabriella's gaze to Cara, who was onstage, acting out a scene from a script that had obviously been given to her in the past minute. Gabriella thought that she saw worry and anxiousness register on the Evans twins' faces. "There's no way we're getting the leads again," she murmured softly, sinking down into the theatre chair.

Almost to her disappointment, Troy didn't sink down with her. "She's good."

A pang of jealousy and pain overcame Gabriella, and she felt like throwing up. "Very." Glancing quickly at Troy to see if he was going to ask her what was wrong, she sighed. He didn't. _I am so stupid. _

Gabriella gave up on "fishing for sympathy," which was something she rarely did... to think of it, just then was the first time she'd ever done it. She turned her attention back to Cara, who was now through a crying scene. Mrs. Darbus told her she was done and her tears immediately went away, and her makeup was hardly smeared. It was as if she had never cried at all. Then she danced… and then she _sang_. Gabriella knew she would have nightmares about Cara's voice forever—not because it was bad, it was beautiful—_too_ beautiful. More than once she squinted to see if Cara was wearing anything… anything that made her voice sound prettier than it was. She didn't find anything.

"She's really good."

Gabriella couldn't take it anymore. "What's that supposed to mean?" Her eyebrows furrowed, and she crossed her arms across her chest. How could he? He had never, ever said that about anyone else—except for her. Never. And yet he just had.

Troy turned to her, an eyebrow raised casually. "That...she's really good?"

Gabriella hated herself for sounding so...jealous. She really didn't want to sound that way... but she didn't know how else to say it. _Shut up, __Gabi... _she wrinkled her nose and sank lower into the seat for sounding so... possessive. _You're so demented. She_ does _sound good... if you can think it, why can't he say it?_

Troy looked at her, and uttered the words she'd been longing to hear--at that moment, anyway. "Something wrong?" he whispered.

"Nothing," she muttered, not caring about the bitterness that seemed prominent in her voice. "I'm fine. Go watch _Cara_ sing."

Troy smiled, stupidly and cluelessly as a guy would, and turned back to Cara, resting his chin on his fist, leaning his elbow on the armrest between himself and Gabriella.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cara rushed up to Gabriella, who had waited for her just outside of the theatre doors. "Mrs. Darbus said I'm good!" She clapped her hands quickly and excitedly, true enthusiasm showing in her glowing, brown, almond-shaped eyes. "Oooh... I saw you sitting next to Troy... did he think I was good?"

"Eh..." Gabriella didn't want to lie--but she obviously didn't want to tell the truth, either... but why... she didn't know. "I have to go do some...homework." She took a deep breath and started to walk away.

"But, Gabi!" Cara ran up to her, grabbing Gabriella's arm. "I thought you did your homework already... wait, never mind! I have the _greatest_ idea... if you don't mind, that is... could you help me with my trig homework?" She grinned. "I heard you're the school's 'Einsteinette'... unless, of course... you don't like that nickname...?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and moaned softly. Cara seemed to talk a lot. "I guess..." She'd never been able to turn someone down when it came to homework help before. Because when that person got a poor grade, she felt partially responsible, and mentally beat herself up... something that she had been doing a lot lately.

"Goody!" Cara squealed and clapped her hands again. "So... how did I do?"

Gabriella forced a smile. "Ugh," she rolled her eyes, hoisting her bookbag higher onto her shoulder so that it wouldn't slip off of her arm. Cara unconsciously followed suit.

"Lemme call my mom," Cara said, fishing her pink cell phone out of her--you guessed it--white purse. Soon she flipped it back shut. "It's okay... as long as I get home before dinner."

"Wonderful." This time, Gabriella meant it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So nice to have you with us, Cara," Mrs. Montez said kindly. "Ever since Taylor moved to Michigan, Gabriella's only friend has been Troy..." 

Cara smiled, chewing on the eraser of her pencil, seated at Gabriella's desk. Gabriella was at work in front of her laptop, comfortably flopped on her stomach on her bed. Gabriella didn't look at her mother, although she knew that Mrs. Montez was waiting for her to say something in agreement. Instead, she worked on researching for her non-existent research topic. She opened up Google on her Internet browser and typed in random words, like "psychrometer" and "Mao Tse Tung."

After a period of awkward silence, Mrs. Montez finally gave up. "Well. I should leave you girls to your schoolwork." With that, she shut the door behind her. For what seemed like hours silence hung in the air. Cara was busy nibbling away at that eraser, and Gabriella worked on typing gibberish onto a word processor.

"Gabi...what did you get for number twenty-one, problem F?" Cara asked a bit timidly, having sensed the tension between herself and Gabriella.

"Oh. Lemme check." She took out her textbook and checked her answer, showing how she did the problem in her notebook, not wanting to let Cara off that easy. After all, she'd basically... done something. That upset her. How? Gabriella wrinkled her nose in confusion, then shuddered, as if doing that would somehow shake all of her doubts away.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gabriella sighed with relief and pressed her back against the door as it shut... with Cara I'm-so-perfect-I-can-sing-and-dance-and-act-better-than-Gabriella Vergara on the outside. Mrs. Montez gave her daughter a funny look, but didn't say anything and simply finished washing the dishes, and for once Gabriella was thankful for the lack of conversation that night--although she and her mother usually always had some "creative discussions" after dinner, usually while watching a boring documentary or some "chick flick."

"I'm going to bed early, Gabbi," Mrs. Montez said from the top of the stairs. "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't," Gabriella promised, and turned out the lights downstairs and followed her mom upstairs. She turned on her computer and opened up her top-secret diary... something she hadn't written in since she was in middle school. Surprisingly, her password, though difficult to recall at first, was figured out--even though Gabriella resorted to hacking into her own computer system.

_So... haven't talked to "you" in awhile... whoever "you" are supposed to be. So there's this new girl... her name's Cara Vergara... and she's all exotic and cute and perfect... except for in school, when she actually needs tutoring. And so she decides to go out for drama... and then Troy's all, "She's good. She's really good..." Blah, blah, blah. And so then everyone thinks I'm jealous--I IMed Taylor awhile ago, and she thinks that I like Troy--it's all so messed-up... and now I'm confused as to whether I do or not... _Gabriella rambled on and on and on, and most of her entry was about Cara and Troy.

Right after she closed her "diary," a sound from the computer told her that she'd received an instant message. _Ironic... it's from Troy. _Although they were usually together for the majority of the school day and sometimes even afterwards, receiving an IM or call from him always sent chills up her spine--good chills that made her nervous and excited all at once.

**wildcat14:** Hey...

**dreamergabbi: **Hay is for horses.

**wildcat14: **Well, then, you must be a very pretty horse. lol

Gabriella felt a blush creep slowly onto her cheeks. She quickly clicked on "Preferences" and made her message archive save every message sent and received from the computer.

* * *

**A/N:** Will finish the IM convo in the next chapter! To keep you all interested. 


	3. And, No, I'm Not Upset

**A/N: **S'okay. So this takes place before and after Troy and Gabriella meet at the party and sing _The Start of Something New_, up until they meet at East High. Maybe it'll go a little further--I dunno.

And this is the idea you gave me, Celine. How... I dunno. xP Hope you like it! Read and review, please!

-------- 

Gabriella Montez tucked a piece of her wavy, dark brown hair behind her ear, engrossed in the novel she was currently reading. Mrs. Montez had to lead her brainy daughter throughout the corridors of the ski lodge. "Here's the teens party... I'll see you next year."

Gabriella laughed weakly. As soon as her mother left, her eyes darted around, and she looked like a little frightened animal about to become roadkill. _What on earth am I supposed to do here?_ She had a hopeful thought and looked around for anyone who looked interested in talking to her, but found no one. Shrugging nonchalantly, she settled down on the nearest chair and reopened her novel, smoothing out the dogear bookmark she had made.

----------

"Kids' party," Troy Bolton muttered, standing around stupidly. He didn't know any of these people, and it was too dark to play basketball--besides, Troy guessed that none of these kids in freakish hats would be very good at the sport, anyway. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans and looked around, trying to appear like he was looking for someone. He had to stifle a laugh when people came up and sang kareoke. _Who on earth would willingly go up there and make a fool out of himself with a complete stranger?_ He shook his head condescendingly, so sure that he would never be guilty of such a thing.

* * *

_I don't sing! _Troy protested to himself, but he miserably found that he was forced onstage, anyway, along with a girl he had never met who looked just as eager as he felt. 

Gabriella looked and felt very uncomfortable, hugging herself. When the first verse came, she balked. _Good thing that other guy sang..._ When the next two lines came, Gabriella finally got up the nerve to sing. It didn't end up sounding that bad at all... in fact, they sounded good.

The "couple" found themselves growing more and more confident and comfortable with the song and with each other. Soon they were talking and laughing as though they had known each other for years and years.


	4. Kiss and Make Up

**A/N:** (Revised 8.22.2007.)

* * *

Cara met Gabriella in the lunch room. A teacher's convention was to follow that, so today was only a half-day. "Gabi!" Cara waved a paper in Gabriella's face. "I got a good grade! And it's all thanks to you!" 

"Mmhmm. Thanks," she murmured half-heartedly. Truth was... her mind was not with her. In fact, her mind was a day behind. Her mind was with last night, actually. She sighed and leaned her head against her hand. _I wonder if he misses me._

Once again, Cara didn't notice, and took a seat at their usual, small table. Seated across from Gabriella, Cara's eyes suddenly grew wide. Gabriella turned her head around and saw Troy's blue eyes looking down at her own brown ones. "I feel sick," she said quickly. "I'll be right back... actually, lunch period's almost over, so I'll see you on Monday. Bye!" Gabriella turned around and tried to dart away, but Troy's strong grip on her arm held her still.

"You have to at least let me apologize--"

"--I'm sorry, but I have to go home now." Her voice was firm, and her mouth was set in a thin, grim line. She felt Troy's grip loosen on her and immediately regretted it. "Let's just forget about the whole thing. You go and audition. I'm sure Mrs. Darbus would love to have you." Brushing away imaginary tears that she knew were bound to come, she ran out of the cafeteria and down hallways that now looked unfamiliar. She immediately stopped. There was no way she wanted to be stuck inside East High on a half-day, while boring teachers came for a convention. No way at all.

Troy eventually caught up with her, huffing only a little. "Gabriella..." he looked straight into her eyes, and they were as blue and serious as ever. "I'd never want to be the leading guy for any other girl."

"Cara sings better than I do," she whispered hoarsely. "You guys obviously deserve each other."

"Well, that's a shame... because _you're_ the one I love, Miss Gabriella Montez." Troy pulled her towards him and kissed her lightly on the lips. Gabriella kissed him back, parting her lips a bit to deepen the kiss. Troy followed suit. They pulled away at the same time, holding hands and grinning like idiots. Idiots in love.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry this chapter's so short... I tried to add on Cara's reaction, but it's just too late for that now... my brain is tired...so expect it in the next chapter! This chapter was more of a filler. It was kinda fun to write, and I hope you like it! 


	5. Dirty Little Secret

**A/N:** My fourth chapter--which was basically a filler--wasn't one of my finest moments. xD I usually don't write stuff like that... and I guess you'll find that out as you read this chapter. Oh, and Gabi hasn't gotten up the nerve to tell Cara about kissing Troy. She'll know eventually, though.

* * *

Cara walked alongside Gabriella towards the Montez residence. "This place looks familiar," Cara murmured.

After receiving her first kiss, Gabriella was smiling and her head seemed to be up in the clouds. "Really? Do you live around here?"

"Yeah... I think so. I mean... I go by this place every day."

"I could walk you home, then. Race you!" Gabriella said for the first time since she was ten years old. Now that she knew that Troy loved her, it seemed that nothing could bring her down--except for a really bad fall, that is. After all of these thoughts running through her head, Gabriella tripped over a deep crack in the sidewalk and fell, skinning her elbow and grazing her chin.

"Gabi? Gabriella?" She could hear Cara's voice faintly, and it was filled with concern. "Gabriella!"

Gabriella looked up and forced a pained smile. "Clumsy me."

Cara's eyes filled with pity. "My house is over there," she said. "My parents aren't home, hopefully, and I can get you some hydrogen peroxide and band-aids or something."

Gabriella nodded, scraping some gravel off her elbow and chin. "Ow." She got up, dusted her hands on the lap of her jeans, and followed Cara.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

By the time they got there--about five or ten minutes--the pain wasn't really there anymore, unless Gabriella touched her chin. She looked around curiously as Cara unlocked the front door and let herself and Gabriella inside. It was dark and quiet... the floors were dark, mahogany hardwood that matched most of the furniture. Cara's bright clothes--this time preppy pink, green, and yellow--seemed even brighter in contrast to her dark, solemn home.

Cara quickly flipped on a lightswitch that immediately bathed the room in light--but even the _light_ was dark. Gabriella touched a few wine bottles in a rack, some of them dated over sixty years ago. "My parents are collectors," Cara said quickly. Gabriella nodded, wondering why Cara would act so suspiciously. Her mom had two bottles of wine from her wedding to Gabriella's deceased father. She never drank the wine, though, and probably never would. It was more of a sentiment, and nothing more.

"You shut up, you son of a..." Gabriella's ears pricked attentively as she heard angry cursing from upstairs. She looked at Cara concernedly and questioningly, who refused to meet her friend's eyes.

Cara closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled deeply, as if doing that would take away some of the pain. Finally glancing at Gabriella, thoughts and doubts ran through her head. This was her first real friend, as she had said. Did she dare tell her all of her well-concealed secrets? Her family didn't have any acting history... she was just good at hiding what was really true... because what was true to her basically "frikken sucked," as she had written in her journal as a fifth-grader. Truth was... she never really liked Troy Bolton, for starters. Talking about a boy seemed to lessen the need to talk about her life. _What if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore? _Would Gabriella understand? Finally, Cara made her decision. She took a beer bottle out of the refrigerator and drank it, much to Gabriella's horror. But Cara couldn't think of anything to say... and didn't actions speak louder than words?

"Cara..." Gabriella cautiously backed away three steps.

"Gabriella..." Cara didn't advance, but tightened her grip on the beer bottle. It was three-fourths full. "_This _is the truth. The real me." She pointed upstairs. "_That's_ my family. And eventually, I'll turn out _just like them_." She took another swig and sauntered over to the refrigerator. "Want some?" Gabriella quickly shook her head, her eyes wide with fear. Cara scowled. "I should have known." She smashed an empty bottle against a terra cotta pot, and the glass shattered a little. She advanced towards Gabriella, the alcohol taking its toll on her. "Another goody-two-shoes." Cara was inches within Gabriella's face, and Gabriella held her breath at the stench of the beer. "You're my only friend, Gabriella. And friends keep secrets." Cara backed away, and Gabriella's face paled. "If you decide not to keep my secret, I'll have to get rid of you." Her voice was slurred. "Get out."


	6. The Hard Way

**A/N: **That last chapter, "Dirty Little Secret," was kind of dark... and strangely, I enjoyed writing it, although I must say I expected it to be a lot longer. (Revised 8.22.2007.)

* * *

Gabriella was glad to obey Cara's order. Chills ran up her spine as she ran towards home, ignoring the pain whenever something touched her elbow or chin. She ran down the street and up the hill, frantically scrambling for her house key to let herself in. Who knew that Cara--a supposedly perfect girl who had now obtained the affections of many shy admirers at East High--had such a secret? Gabriella shuddered again at the thought. She felt confused--one could die from having a high percentage of alcohol in her blood system--and she didn't want Cara to die, by any means. But what if she told and Cara actually "got rid" of her? If she were in any other situation, the solution would be easy--avoid all contact with Cara Vergara...forever--except for the fact that Principal Matsui himself request that Gabriella assist Cara for her first week at East High. If Gabriella were to back out now, she couldn't possibly do so without a valid explanation or reason... and she couldn't and wouldn't lie. Even though it was only five o'clock, Gabriella wearily fell asleep, and didn't hear the phone ring when Troy called her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Troy looked at the phone, confused. Where could Gabriella be at a time like this... and why couldn't she take her phone with her? He sighed and gave up. Maybe she was still mad...?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cara wearily sank down onto the floor of her bedroom, shaking. _Where's...Gabriella? _Then she remembered. She had revealed herself--the true, hideous, horribly ugly monster that she was--and now Gabriella wouldn't talk to her ever again. _Uh-oh. Here comes the hangover. _She ran to the bathroom and threw up until she felt that all that was left inside her were her vital organs. She heard her parents down the hall, even though the door was closed and likely locked. Tears welled up in her eyes, trickling down her cheeks silently as she took out her tin of mints and removed a cleverly concealed razor from the bottom of the inside. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed silently, and the razor clattered to the tiled floor as she broke down in tears. She pushed her sleeve up, revealing a series of scars. Each one of these scars told a story--the first one, the one closest to healing, was when she had first started cutting in sixth grade. From then on she refused to show her arms--and whenever she went to the pool, she'd always have an excuse to wear a long-sleeved tee over it--"I'm fat" was this summer's.

A strange, deranged comfort came from these scars--as if it took the pain from the cut to take away the pain that she was forced to endure her every waking moment. Both of her "parents"--poor excuses for them, anyway, went about their normal lives as if the other didn't exist--and to them, neither did Cara. They left her alone to fend for herself, often going out to parties and getting drunk. Cara knew fully well that she was an "accident," although neither one of her parents were sober long enough to tell her so. As a child she spent most of her time at the house of her "grandparents"--her kind, elderly neighbors--the only ones who knew her pain. And then they had died from old age when she was in sixth grade--before she had taken up cutting, and her world came crashing down. She had no reason to live.

At her old school, the one she had attended until this year, Cara knew what the other kids thought of her. They always seemed to form a pathway for her--every student not coming within three feet of her--whenever she entered a room. Once she caught her "best friend" gossiping about her in the girls' bathroom. Boys disrespected her. She held all of this inside until she couldn't take it anymore--she was at home after school--alone, of course--when she took one of her mother's razors and expertly made a slit on the underside of her arm, careful not to cut any important veins or arteries. Cara had always found it intriguing how some "emotionally disturbed" people would cut to take away their troubles, and had done some research on it. After she made the cut, she felt a sick feeling of relief wash over her and she instinctively pressed a wad of toilet paper against her skin...

...ah, the memories. If only she could relive that day...

She bit her lip decidedly, picking the razor up from the floor, composing herself and wiping her tear-stained face. She found the scar from her first cut and sliced through her skin again, blankly watching the blood trickle down her arm and onto her bare leg. Snapping back to attention, she wiped up her blood and threw it away, pressing a wad of toilet paper against the new wound. It brought her strange comfort, just like it always had. Cara smiled, washed her face, and returned to going about her life as if everything were okay.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cara felt blood pulsing through the arm she had just cut, and looked at it, feeling a strange, sick feeling of relief washing over her. She quickly pulled her sleeve down and opened her backpack to get out her textbooks for homework. Suddenly, her cell phone rang, and she withdrew her breath sharply.

_Hello._ The unwelcoming male voice sent chills up her spine, and she turned as white as a sheet.

"I don't want to talk to you," Cara whispered, trying to sound as firm as she could while she was inwardly shaking, and her knees almost buckled in fear. "Please, leave me alone."

_You can't turn me down. I know your secret._ He sounded angry. _You promised me. I am going to come for what I wanted._

"Please, no," she pleaded weakly, sobbing into the cell phone. She wished that she just had the courage to hang up on him, but then her stalker just might find her, rape her, and kill her. She didn't know who he was, where he was from--how he knew her, and had managed to find her after she had moved states away.

_You're going to give me what I want, _he cursed angrily at her. _We can do this the easy way or the hard way. If you want, I'll bring something that'll knock out your senses. How many tequilas? _He laughed hatefully.

Cara couldn't respond, and she dropped the phone as she fainted.


End file.
